HELP!!

[gINg65]

My friend recently passed and left me her 50 y/o Goffins cockatoo Joe. He is tearing up my home. He flies off his cage to attack my husband and my dogs.
I spend a minimum of 2hrs a day handling him. He tries to breed with me which I discourage but he won't stop trying.
He has a zillion toys and he hates all of them. He has three cages. Main cage sleep cage and outdoor cage. He hates them all. He is not sleeping well. He screams at night no matter what do. What am I doing wrong???

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

Hello there! 1st of all… God bless you for taking on, in my opinion, one of the most difficult parrot tasks of all time. The key is trust & time. Put yourself in the position of this 50-year-old parrot that just lost his beloved caretaker. On top of that, cockatoos are a handful anyway. That combo already is enough to know you have many challenges ahead of you. Do your best to give as many fun distractions to his new environment… and I don’t necessarily mean toys. Take him outside or short day trips and find creative ways to engage with him outdoors. It will help and It will involve a lot of time and patience. I wish you the best, and looking forward to hearing your progress.

 

[wrench13]

Right - cockatoos are highly emotional and he just lost his partner of 50yrs. You;d be upset too, I think.

SO - never touch him anywhere but the head -never. Anywhere else is a mating trigger. Cut back or eliminate sugar bearing foods and fruits. No dark hiding places. No shreddy type toys or cloth or nest building like materials. Aim for 12 hrs of sleep time. All these can help reduce mating behaviors.

How do you know he hates his toys? IS he ignoring them ( thats hate) or tearing them apart ( thats how parrots 'play' with toys)

Hubby should be the only one to offer him his fav treat, and lots of them at every opportunity. This will take time.

Flying to attack is never good. Me I would have the bird lightly clipped, so he can glide to the floor, but not gain height. Dont worry - heathers grow back.

 

[gINg65]

Thanks so much for the advice!!!! As for his toys he goes into total freak out and either throws them on the floor or tries to fly away from them. Have tried to introduce toys by even biting and playing with them myself. If I leave them in the cage he clings to the bars the farthest away from them.

 

[gINg65]

As for shreddies yup I let him have them because he was eating the wall. But he did get more aggressive even though he really liked them. I have been keeping to head pets. I made that mistake too darn it. What about wings? He likes doing "be an eagle" where he spreads his wings. I lift both his wings for that and say be an eagle and he displays his wings and tail and says pretty Joe!